Mentoring a Women in Computing Student Club: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Initiatives addressing issues of Women in Computing (WiC) at FSC has been inconsistent in the last decade. As a response, two faculty have worked with student leaders to reinstantiate the WiC student club during the COVID19 pandemic. Re-instituting the club has raised some questions that are not entirely pandemic related. FSC is primarily a commuter college within the larger NY State university system, where 90% of the 10,000 enrolled commute. Computer Systems enrollment is consistently 90% male and 10% female. Since student clubs are vital for the social climate and student engagement of a college campus, women-focused student clubs are especially important to create a supportive atmosphere and camaraderie among the women students enrolled in the computing programs. In this BoF, the facilitators look forward to collaborating with colleagues/student leaders who have experience and interest in advising/running student clubs. The facilitators would also like to explore more deeply on topics of working with student leaders, examining the role of faculty advisors for student clubs, and welcome insight and perspectives of students who are involved with student clubs. The facilitators will share and solicit input on the unique challenges of commuter colleges where there is a shortage of student leaders that have the time and the mindset for running student clubs.